SUGGESTED BOOKS ON THE DIARY OF JACK THE RIPPER
Early accounts
There is only one starting place for anyone interested in the Ripper Diary and that is the book by Shirley Harrison that sparked the whole debate about the candidature of James Maybrick to be the notorious Whitechapel serial killer. I would recommend buying the latest edition of the book as it contains information that does not appear in the earlier editions. I would not recommend buying the Harrison spin-off book that is entitled Jack the Ripper: The American Connection, as it examines the entirely bogus hypothesis that James Maybrick could have been both the Whitechapel killer and the Austin Axe Murderer in Texas. It is a hypothesis bereft of any evidence to support it.
Another essential book is Robert Smith’s book which contains a full-size facsimile copy of the original Diary manuscript. There are two versions of the book: 25 Years of the Diary of Jack the Ripper: The True Facts (2017) and a revised version, The True History of The Diary of Jack the Ripper (2019). Apart from being able to view a clear copy of the Diary, Smith also gives his views on Michael and Anne (Graham) Barrett and tries to provide answers to the numerous controversies surrounding the Diary such as its poor provenance and handwriting issues. How successful he is in answering these thorny questions is very much a matter of opinion.
Another interesting but older book, is Ripper Diary: The Inside Story by Linder, Morris and Skinner. The book provides an in-depth account of what happened in the early years after the Diary and Watch first appeared in 1992. It is a real insight into the turmoil that these two items caused in the world of Ripperology and into the lives and families of the Barretts and the Johnsons. It is narrative of a real-life soap opera that had moments of nastiness and madness. If you want to understand the personal politics and tragedies the Diary unleashed in its wake, then it truly is essential reading.
James or Michael?
There are of course many other books about the Diary and the Watch. Paul Feldman’s book, Jack the Ripper: The Final Chapter, is the product of frenetic research and at times, wild and unsupported speculations, about the lives of James and Florence Maybrick and the cast of modern characters who became embroiled in the Diary saga. Feldman believed completely that the Diary was genuine and James Maybrick was indeed Jack the Ripper. The problem with his book is not his assertion that James was the Ripper, as he is fully entitled to have a view on the issue, the problem comes in that many of the core planks of his hypotheses are not grounded on firm facts. Nevertheless, it is an interesting book to read and Feldman deserves credit for the extensive research he carried out. He did unearth a lot of new material on the Maybricks. Bruce Robinson’s book, They All Love Jack, proposes not James Maybrick to be Jack the Ripper, but his brother Michael. It is a book that I both love and dislike. The book has many thought-provoking statements that prompt you to rethink what you previously thought was correct. Robinson also makes important points about the Ripper letters and the influence of the Freemasons at the top levels of the British Government and society. Unfortunately, like Feldman, Robinson is selective in his facts as he seeks to try and prove not test his theory. Some of his statements about Florence’s trial are simply incorrect. Another person who thinks Michael Maybrick was Jack the Ripper was Philip Davies. He has written two interesting books on the case, Funny Little Games and its follow-up, The London Medicine. Although I profoundly disagree with Davies about Michael being Jack the Ripper, I did enjoy his books. Like Robinson, he believes there are clues to the Ripper’s identity in some of the letters sent to the police supposedly by the murderer himself. For example, he believes the letter signed May-bee, was a rash mistake by Michael Maybrick that ‘could have rendered him very vulnerable indeed.’ I found Davies’ analysis of the Dear Blucher letter to be very interesting and although I didn’t fully agree with his views, he did cause me to look at the letter again with fresh eyes. If you like word puzzles, then Carl Davies’ book, The Funny Little Games of Jack the Ripper, will delight you. He too is fascinated by the letters sent to the police that supposedly came from the killer and, like Robinson and Philip Davies, he believes many of them were in fact sent by Jack the Ripper. The difference being, he thinks James Maybrick and not Michael Maybrick was Jack the Ripper. Although I found some of Carl Davies’ quizzical links to be quite weak, I did enjoy his book and found some of his ideas to be extremely thought-provoking.
The Watch
One final book to look at would be Jay Hartley’s book on the Maybrick watch. Hartley believes that even if the Diary is not a genuine document written by James Maybrick, then the watch is the real deal and points directly at James being Jack the Ripper. Hartley was impressed in particular, by the tests on the watch carried out by two reputable organisations, who both felt the scratches on the watch could be very old. Although once again I do not agree with Hartley’s views, the strength of his book is that he focuses more on the watch than he does on the Diary and that is an area that is often sadly neglected in the debate about James Maybrick’s candidature to be Jack the Ripper.